A Year in the Rain
by GoldenGirl
Summary: Set exactly a year after the crash. Some KS, some KJ, some general. What's going on a year later?
1. Default Chapter

Title: A Year in The Rain

Author: Goldengirl

Paring: Kate/Sawyer

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost.

Summary: This is a future fic that takes place exactly one year after the crash. This fic spans the day of the anniversary. It is general but mostly K/S with some hint at K/J.

On to the story...

Kate once told Jack that on the anniversary of the crash she'd give him a call. Knowing that she could've been anywhere in the world, on that day she'd stop running and contact some of the friends she'd made on the island. Read something about it in the papers. Remember it with the rest of the world. She would have never imagined that she'd still be on the island, remembering the crash with the rest of the survivors.

It had been one year and a lot had changed. Five months in, Jack and Locke decided to build a big communal type of hut, dubbed the Island House. Kate hated the idea. She didn't understand why they would begin settling five months in when help had to be on the way. Despite her quiet protests, the House was built anyway. Michael oversaw the process and Locke was able to make a mixture of mortar that helped to hold the wood together. The house was sturdy and provided shelter, but pretty soon a lot of people realized they could make houses for themselves. Maintain the sort of privacy they were used to pre-crash.

By the ninth month on the island almost everyone had their own hut or shared one with someone else. Jin and Sun, Charlie, Claire and her baby and Shannon and Sayid along with the rest of the couples all shacked up together. Kate was the very last person to leave the beach and build her hut. She was reluctant all the way, but in her heart she knew it was what had to be done. She knew it would probably be the closest thing she'd see to a real house again. She wasn't the only reluctant one though.

Sawyer, one of the last people to leave the beach, made himself a hut too. Albeit, not a very good one but still a hut none the less. It was located close to the woods, away from where everyone else had settled. He had to make it himself because no one would help him. Plus, his ego wouldn't have let them even if anyone offered. His roof was made out of the same waterproof blue sheet he used in the earlier days for his beach tent. Though it wasn't very water proof anymore and he was lucky to get under the shelter of a real hut when it rained. And he only knocked on one person's door when the happened. No one else would've probably offered him to stay during a storm, not that he'd asked. But Kate was always there. When he'd be sopping wet, standing in front of her door he always knew that she'd let him in. Dry and smirking. Kate didn't mind helping him out from time to time. And sometimes, though she would never admit it, she liked when it rained.

But right now, the sun was shining so bright it was hard to look around without squinting. Kate reached into a crate next to her "bed" if it could be called that, and fished around until she found what she was looking for. She looked at the leopard print shades, apprehensively. She was never one for gaudy accessories, but they were a birthday gift from Sawyer. He wore them so frequently before giving them to her, which made the gift really sweet, if a little misguided. But she didn't expect him to know her fashion sense. Kate put on the sunglasses and headed out for the beach.

The path she took every morning was well worn by now. She passed the row on three identical huts that everyone referred to as "The Block." Locke was currently building another hut right next to it, but she had no idea what for. Everyone had a place to live by now. She toyed with the idea of it becoming a convenient store but then forced that out of her mind. The realization that the island was becoming a civilization became clearer everyday. And it scared her.

"Kate!"

She awoke from her thoughts at the sound of her name. Turning around, she saw Jack, hurrying towards her. She hadn't noticed that he was helping Locke with the new hut.

"Hey!" he said, a little out of breath when he finally caught up with her.

"Hey, Jack. Something wrong?"

"No," he smiled and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Just wanted to say hi. It seems like I haven't spoken to you in days."

Being together on an island in such close proximity and not talking for days. Yep, it was starting to feel more like a civilization everyday.

"Been busy I guess. Looks like you're pretty busy yourself."

Jack looked back at the construction site where Locke and Hurley were working. He breathed heavily and turned back to Kate. "Yeah."

"Who's it for?" she asked.

"It's not for residential use."

"Then what?"

"We've got a couple of ideas but we want to discuss it with the rest first."

'The rest.' Kate wondered how long it would be before he referred to them as "the town" or "the residents."

"We're actually going to talk about it at the meeting tonight. You're coming this time, right?"

She had shown up for the first few meetings but had recently decided to skip them. She had been to enough town meetings growing up to know that they were boring wastes of time. She was, however, looking forward to go to the vigil they were supposed to be doing that night to commemorate the crash.

"Meeting? I thought there was going to be a vigil."

"Well, we decided it'd probably be best to group the two together. The vigil will be held directly afterwards in front of the House."

"You can count me in, Doc."

They both recognized Sawyer's lazy southern drawl but only Kate turned to acknowledge him. But Sawyer didn't acknowledge Jack either. He only looked at Kate and spoke to her even when what he said should've been directed at Jack. He stared at with a mischievous twinkle in his eye and said, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Kate knew Sawyer shared her disdain for the meetings but he never missed a single one. He would get there early and leave last, making sure to catch every moment of hilarity, even if he'd be the only one laughing.

"Why are you so eager to go?" Jack asked.

"Because tonight you promised me the floor for five minutes and I intend on taking full advantage of it."

Jack regretted the moment he promised Sawyer the floor. He chalked it up to a moment of blinding moral superiority. In hindsight, however, giving the floor to the one person who enjoyed ridiculing the establishment seemed more like a case of blinding stupidity. "Just tell me what you want and I'll let you speak."

"I just wanna fill in the town about my new venture."

"Venture?" Kate asked.

"You know, Freckles."

And with that Kate remembered what it was he was talking about. She had the misfortune of being privy to his 'venture' before anyone else.

"What's he talking about?" Jack asked.

"How's your neck?" Sawyer interrupted. "You sleep alright?"

"Sure, I guess."

Jack looked at them quizzically.

"You guess? You gotta give me more than that."

Kate sighed and rolled her eyes. "It didn't break my neck."

"Aha," Sawyer said, grinning. "Now that's more like it."

Tired of being completely out of the loop yet again when it came to Kate and Sawyer, Jack, coughed loudly to return Kate's attention to him. "So I'll see you tonight?"

Kate glanced towards Sawyer who shot her a look telling her she'd be sorry to miss it.

"Ok," she answered. "I'll be there."

"Good," Jack said, nodding. "I should get back to work. I'll see you tonight."

Kate smiled and waved faintly before heading back down the path towards the beach. Sawyer followed close behind.

"I see you've got the sunglasses on," Sawyer said through a smug grin. Kate stopped in her tracks. She had completely forgotten she was wearing the shades. She must've looked like an idiot talking to Jack with leopard print and sequins adorning her face.

"It's sunny," she said, getting back into stride.

"Sure, yeah, no need to thank me." He paused, but it wasn't long before he started touting his own horn. "You know, you're lucky to have those shades! The blazing sun could be burning through your pupils as we speak, but thanks to me, you've got the shades. And mighty stylish shades, at that."

Kate smiled, despite herself.

"You know, Shannon almost killed me for those shades one time. She held a knife over her head while I was asleep one night, muttering 'if you don't give me the shades'-"

Kate couldn't stifle her laughs any longer. "Okay, okay, thank you for the sunglasses, I love them!" she exclaimed through bursts of giggles. "Happy now?"

Sawyer smiled. He lived to make her laugh. There wasn't much else to live for on the damn island. "Yes," he answered.


	2. chapter2

When Kate got to the beach she found Shannon and Clair distributing the fresh fruit they had just picked. This inexplicably pissed Kate off. It meant that she would have nothing to do throughout the afternoon. It seemed like everyone on the island had found themselves a job. A reason to wake up in the morning. Jin caught the fish, Locke the boar, Sun tended to the garden, Michael oversaw all the new construction, Jack took care of people and even Sawyer had something to do. When they reached the beach he went off to look for material for his "venture." Kate designated herself the fruit-picking maven, but today she was second fiddle.

"Looks like you guys picked the trees clean today," Kate said, approaching the two blonde women.

"Yeah," Shannon answered. "We were sick of waiting for your lazy ass," she continued, jokingly.

"Huh? I didn't wake up late, you guys just went early."

"We went to your place and knocked but you were still sleeping. We didn't want to wake you," Clair chimed in.

Kate thought for a moment, wondering if their claims were true. In all this time on the island she had always woken up earlier than the others. She asked herself what she had done differently the night before. Then she got it. It was all Sawyer's fault.

"Want an apple?" Shannon asked, her hand outstretched with the ripe red fruit. Kate looked at the apple and then at Shannon. She turned on her heel and headed back to her hut, having nothing to do for the rest of the day.

"What's up her ass?" Shannon whispered to Clair when Kate was out of earshot.

As soon as Kate stepped into her place and shut the door behind her, she heard the downpour of rain against the wood. Instinctively her eyes rose to the roof to see if there were leaks. There weren't. Then she waited for the inevitable. Five minutes later, as if on cue, she heard the abrasive pounding on her door and then the desperate command "Let me in!"

"Why should I?" She asked.

Sawyer was not expecting that. It was not part of their routine. "Because! I made you a bed! Your neck didn't break! And you owe me!"

Kate stood from her bed and went to her door, opening it calmly as Sawyer barged in, drenched in rain. He flailed his arms, trying to spray some of the liquid from his sleeves. Finally he decided to rid himself of the shirt that was sticking to his skin and he pulled it over his head, tossing it on the ground. He looked up and was met with a pillow to the head.

"I woke up late because of your bed."

Taking the pillow to the face as an insult at first, he now took it as a compliment. "You mean, you got a few extra hours of sleep?" He asked, obviously pleased with himself.

"Next time you decide to test out your newest product on me, don't," Kate spat. She had originally supported Sawyer's desire to invent a new kind of bed using raw island materials like extra soft leaves or whatever the hell he had been putting in them, but now she had a more negative reaction to his business plan.

"Well if I had known it would've made you so cranky," Sawyer began, making his way to the lone airplane chair beside the wall, "I would've given you the bed-o-matic 3000 a long time ago. You're cute when you're cranky."

Kate was not amused. "Bed-o-matic 3000?" she asked in a more even-tempered mood. "You can't seriously think of calling it that."

"Oh, come on. People like things with numbers in the name."

Kate threw her hands in the air as she sat back on her bed. "Then you should've called it bed-o-matic 815. See how many people line up to buy it."

Sawyer laughed and shook his palm through his wet hair. "Point taken." He observed as she grimly smoothed the blanket she was sitting on.

"So what's the matter?" he asked.

Kate looked up at him. Choosing the question for their little rain sessions discussions were always an interesting adventure. They ranged from "Why would you ever listen to Nsync?" to "Why'd you run away from home!" It looked like today's question would be one of her favorites; "What's the matter with Kate?"

"Today's the anniversary of the crash," she said, plainly.

"As a survivor of said crash, I have not let it slip my mind."

"It's been a year," she continued.

"We've already gone over that."

"Do you get the feeling that everything is moving along without you?" she asked, searching Sawyer's eyes. "It just seems like everyone's got a place on this island. And they all act as if the next town is just a short drive away. Like everyone's playing pretend."

"Yeah, it's been like that for a while now, Freckles. Where you been?"

She sighed loudly and tilted her head back. "I'm just sick of this place."

Sawyer didn't knew whether to be surprised or not to hear that from Kate. On the one hand she was always offering her help around here whenever it was needed. On the other she always spoke up about things she didn't think were right, like moving out of the beach and settling.

"Did it ever strike you as odd that the two of us want off this island more than anyone here?" he asked. She looked at him. "I think about it a lot. I mean, everyone's got someone waiting for them back home. We don't. Heck, everyone's got a home and we...well, you get it," he continued. "We go back to reality and the only place we'll probably be welcome is in jail."

Kate looked down somberly, knowing he was right.

"What I'm saying is, we should be basking in the glory that is this island. Yet, here we are. Moping around."

"Yeah," Kate agreed. "Why is that?"

"It's cuz you can't stay still for more than a minute," he replied, matter of factly.

"Oh yeah, that."

And it was true of every aspect of her life. Except for the time she decided to settle with Jack. She had actually stopped running for just that once. Sawyer couldn't even say that she was the one to run when things were over between them. Not that he knew because she never spoke to him about her time with the good all Doc. All he had were educated assumptions. For example, he assumed that Jack was the one to break things off because Kate had been all bitchy and mopey for a good time afterwards. Jack probably got a crazy idea in his head that they might get rescued and once in the real world he'd never work out with Kate. He assumed that because right around the time he decided to settle in and civilize the island, he started pining after Kate again. Sawyer rather enjoyed watching him pine after her without getting so much as the time of day in return.

"But it's good that you're not settling in.," Sawyer went on. "If you did I would'nt have anyone to talk to."

"Well so long as it's doing you some good," Kate replied, sardonically.

"You don't follow the rest of the herd. It's the reason I like you."

"Is that it? I thought it was because I'm the sexiest woman you've ever seen."

"Ever seen?" he said, thinking it over. "I've seen a lot of sexy women in my day." Kate rolled her eyes and smirked. "But you're the sexiest."

She had long ago accepted his ceaseless sexual advances as much-needed fun banter. Sexual advances that were in actuality completely serious intentions were much better disguised as fun banter.

Sawyer sighed loudly and threw his head back. "Oh Freckles. When are you gonna give me a chance? I think I've waited long enough, don't you?"

She looked across the short three feet distance between them and asked herself that question. Why hadn't she ever given him a chance? She'd given one to Jack and she had nothing to show for it.

She'd thought it over a lot, at certain times when everything about Sawyer just looked right.

Like now, the way he lounged in her chair shirtless, the rain glistening on his bronzed, sun-kissed skin. A year of eating nothing but fruit, water and protein had made him leaner and more toned than he had been when he first got on the island. Maybe it was the fact that she'd been stranded on an island for a year, but suddenly, giving him a chance didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"Come here," she said in a low voice.

He looked at her incredulously thinking, too, that the island must've finally gotten to her, but he wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.

He stood in front of her, his knees touching her bent ones, and held her face in his hands. "Are you just pulling my leg, Freckles? Cuz I don't think I can take another tease."

She looked up at him from her seated position on the bed he'd made for her and didn't say a word. Instead she clasped the button of his fly in her hand and undid it. The sounds of the rain pounding against the roof filled the tangibly silent space between them. Slowly she unzipped his jeans and put both hands on either side of his thighs, slipping off the heavy fabric.

Without losing stride, Sawyer stepped out of his jeans and kneeled on her bed, straddling her like he playfully had so many times before. The feel of his warm wet skin as he laid her back caused goose bumps to rise on Kate's arms. She grabbed a fistful of his hair, urging him to kiss her but his parted lips only grazed hers. A husky chuckle escaped his throat, knowing he was teasing her but he didn't care. He moved away from her lips and instead decided to gnaw her earlobe, lethargically moving down to her neck. His fingers tickled the opening between the bottom of her tank top and the top of her jeans until they finally slipped beneath the fabric and crawled up her back. He felt her skin shiver under his hand. The raindrops outside beat on her walls like her heart against his chest.

Kate grabbed his hair and pulled, making him face her again. She looked him dead in the eye, her moth agape. "Stop teasing," she demanded. It was all Sawyer needed to hear. He dug in for a kiss when the bed suddenly collapsed beneath them.

"Son of a bitch!" Sawyer exclaimed, immediately sitting up and examining the destroyed bed. "Are you ok" He asked, helping Kate up and searching her body to see if she was hurt. "I'm fine," she said, rubbing the back of her head. "Remind me to be on top next time."

"Next time? We don't have to stop. Lets continue," Sawyer said, urgently, watching the moment he had been waiting for for a year flee before his eyes. "We could do it right here on the floor. You like it a little rough, don't you?"

Kate punched him in the shoulder and stood up. "Obviously this was a bad idea."

Sawyer racked his brain trying to find something to say to convince her to stay.

The rain outside stopped as suddenly as it came and both Kate and Sawyer looked out her small window to witness the sun shining through it yet again.

Sawyer slumped against the wall surrounded in pieces of the bed-o-matic 3000, defeated. Whenever the rain stopped it was his cue to go. Kate grabbed his pants and handed them to him. Who knew when it would rain again.


	3. chapter3

"Now that we have that covered, I know a lot of people are wondering what the new hut will be used for."

Jack was standing behind a tree trunk podium at the head of the packed room. "When someone needs treatment for something they either come to my place or I go to theirs. Locke, Sayid and I decided it was in everyone's best interest if we made the hut into a sort of hospital. Of course it'll only have a bed and a medicine cabinet but the new quarters can only improve our condition on this island," he said.

Kate watched as he looked around the room, scanning people's reactions. She had to admit he was a pretty good public speaker. Jack noticed Sawyer's hand shoot up in the back row and reluctantly called on him.

"Are we going to have to vote on this?" Sawyer asked. "Because I don't have all night."

"Okay," Jack went on. "If no one has any further comments, Sawyer would like to speak to us about something." He stepped away from the podium and gestured towards it. "Sawyer," he said invitingly.

Sawyer made his way to the front of the room as Jack took a seat in the front row.

"Ladies and gentleman, when was the last time you had a goodnight's sleep? Your answer is probably, I don't know, say, a year ago? When we were all in our warm beds somewhere before crash landing on this hell hole."

Jack folded his arms over his chest and leaned forward, impatiently waiting for when Sawyer would get to his point.

"Well now you can sleep like you did back on the real world with my bed-o-matic 3000." Within the silence of his audience Sawyer heard a lone giggle and he knew exactly who it was laughing at him. He decided to shift the attention towards her. "What's a bed-o-matic 3000 you ask? Well, it's a new bed I've created that I've tested out on my lovely assistant, Kate." Everyone turned to look in her direction. "Kate, why don't you tell them what you told me earlier today."

Kate had told him a lot of things earlier that day. She thought back to the event that almost took place in the very bed Sawyer was advertising. She remembered how good his tongue felt against the crook of her neck and how, at that moment, she had wanted nothing more than for him to–

Sawyer cleared his throat and she snapped out of her trans-like state. Everyone was looking at her, waiting to hear what she'd told him earlier that day.

"It didn't break my neck," she said, shrugging.

"It didn't break her neck!" Sawyer exclaimed. "Now who's going to be the first to invest in the bed-o-matic? Jin? I'll take a month's worth of that scrumptious sashimi thing you're so good at making. Deal?"

Jin muttered something in tangible in Korean.

"Deal!" Sawyer said, smacking the podium's surface with his palm.

"Dude, he doesn't understand you!" Hurley piped in.

"What are you his lawyer!" he snapped back.

"Alright!" Jack stated, standing from his seat and heading to the front again. "This isn't an auction house. If anyone wants to get a bed...o..."

"Bed-o-matic 3000," Sawyer said.

"Bed-o-matic 3000, you can contact Sawyer privately," Jack continued. "Meeting adjourned."

Everyone started filing out of the house and Jack passed Sawyer "Good luck with that thing, buddy."

The vigil that took place afterwards was a lot like the memorial that took place after the crash. There was a bonfire that everyone gathered around.

Kate tried to listen as Sayid spoke in front of the crowd but she was distracted by the sight of Sawyer, slowly inching towards her. He discreetly made his way through the crowd gathered for the vigil until he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Kate.

"The forecast looks cloudy tonight," he whispered in her general direction. "Looks like it might rain, even."

Kate kept her eyes on the fire. Poor Sawyer was getting desperate. Kate figured he'd drop a bucket of water on her anytime soon and tell her it was raining. She tried not to be so flattered. "Nah, looks pretty clear to me."

Sawyer groaned. "This whole waiting til it rains thing is a stupid idea. We're adults we can think for ourselves, I mean, really, what kind of—"

He was promptly shushed by a woman standing in front of them.

"Yeah because whatever Ali's saying is so crucial to your existence!" he spat back. Kate noticed Jack was walking away from the group and towards the woods. She went after him, unnoticed by Sawyer who was immersed in a whispered argument with the shushing woman.

"Everything okay, Jack?" She asked when she caught up with him.

He turned around, pleasantly surprised that she'd seen him and followed him even if it did seem like he wanted to be alone.

"Yeah," he answered, simply. "I wanted to talk to you but I saw Sawyer already was." He looked behind her to see Sayid prying the woman off of Sawyer before she could slap him any further. "So," Jack continued. "I decided to wait."

"Well, I'm here. What did you want to talk about?" Kate asked.

"Let's take a walk."

Even though it was getting dark, Kate felt safe walking into the woods with Jack. By now everyone pretty much knew their way around in the dark anyway. And even if it wasn't for the security she felt around him, she still would've followed him for the curiosity. He wanted to take a walk and talk yet he wasn't speaking at all on their trek. She had no clue why he was so adamant about talking to her.

With countless possibilities running through her mind she didn't realize where it was Jack was taking her. She didn't bother to examine her surroundings until Jack stopped and looked back at her.

"I think this is a god place to talk."

Kate looked around. "The caves," she said.

Over the year, the caves had become a crossroads between the beach and where they had all settled. It was no longer shelter or even a desired destination. Just a place to stop for water. It was pretty desolate these days.

Jack sat by flat rock by the water and Kate sat beside him.

"How are you doing?"

"How am I doing?" Kate repeated, unsure of how to take the question.

"Yeah. I don't think I've asked you that in a while."

"I'm fine," Kate said, nodding slowly. It sounded like a stupid answer the second it left her lips but did he really expect her to say anything else?

"I guess why I'm asking is because you've been... distant lately."

"I have?"

"Yeah, I think so," Jack responded. "I know settling down on this island takes some adjustment. How do you think you're adjusting?"

Kate didn't understand why it was so difficult to answer his simple question. She had just had an entire conversation about this very topic that afternoon with Sawyer. Maybe it had been easier to talk to him because he never prodded.

"Well, if you have to ask then you probably already know the answer."

"I know that it must be hard for you," he replied. "But I don't want it to be. I want to help you through all this."

"As a doctor?"

"As Jack."

She noticed he didn't say 'as your friend.' He'd rather be anything to her than her 'friend.'

"Why'd you bring me here?"

A demure smile crept up on Jack's face and he looked away, sheepishly. "I have some good memories about this place. You do remember, right?" He turned back to her and their eyes locked. Kate recognized that happy-little-boy look that was so rare from him these days.

"Do you really think I'd forget our first kiss?"

Jack's smile broadened. "I'll never forget it," he said, softly.

The intensity in his eyes finally got to Kate and she had to look away, but Jack recaptured her attention when he took her hand. "What we had..." he paused, searching for the right words. "What I had with you, was special. There isn't a lot to hold on to on this island and I don't want to lose you."

Kate felt the distance between them decrease and she realized Jack was leaning towards her. Before she even knew what she was wrapped up in she felt Jack's lips against hers.

Sawyer's jaw clenched shut as he held his breath in his throat. He had followed them into the woods, keeping his distance behind the trees and was now witness to a kiss. The very thing he had deprived Kate of earlier that day. He couldn't look any more and headed back towards his hut.


	4. final chapter

Did anyone here ask for sap? Cuz this chap is chock full of SAP! Sappy sap sap. Sappity sap sap. Sorry, I'll stop now. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Kate reached her hut just in time to miss the downpour of rain. Everything outside was instantly wet and she could hear the crash of thunder nearby. She never did like rainy days. They required her to stay put when it was the one thing she hated doing most. Out in the wild, however, rainstorms were worse. She'd never admit it but the lightning terrified her. The thought of it being so near and possibly knocking her out cold was never a pleasant one.

Once, she was so scared and surprised by the thunder that she jumped and immediately lunged for Sawyer who was two feet away. She held onto him for dear life for a whopping two seconds before he began laughing his ass off. She promptly let go of him and vowed never to do that again, but thankfully, Sawyer let her eventually live it down. He even taught her a trick his uncle had taught him when he was little to count the seconds in between thunder to predict when it would happen again. It calmed her down considerably when she could expect the thunder. That, and Sawyer was a great distraction during the storms.

He should've been there by now. Kate checked her wrist watch as she paced in her small space. Unpleasant thoughts clouded her mind as she wondered why he was taking so long. Maybe he tripped and was stuck in the mud and it slowed him down. Maybe he tripped and hit his head and was lying unconscious somewhere in the jungle. Maybe he tripped and fell hard on a pointy branch and got stabbed and was dead out in the jungle somewhere. Kate tried not to jump to conclusions but there was nothing else to do but think. She stood up, decidedly and braved herself for the rain.

Every inch of Sawyer was wet. Every inch of his hut was wet. He sat in his airplane chair, glued to the cushioned seat by the sticky rain he and his possessions had now accumulated. He would've gotten up and fixed the thin "waterproof" plastic sheet he called a roof, but he couldn't bring himself to stand up. Maybe he was too heartbroken to move.

He wondered if this was what it felt like to be heartbroken. Throughout his life he had avoided getting too invested with women. If he gave too much of himself to someone, they'd have all the power to crush him. And here he was, crushed. And the worst part was that he didn't even understand why. He hadn't gotten that involved with Kate. They had barely even kissed. Nothing like what she was currently doing with Jack.

He busied himself thinking about it. Thinking about Kate. Thinking about Kate and Jacko attached at the lips. Thinking about Kate taking Jacko back to her place to complete the evening with some lovey-dovey aww-shucks, arent-they-just-darlin' night of romance. He wiped the image from his mind quickly. Thinking never did him any good.

He looked up at his roof and was met with an oversized, almost obese rain drop in between the eyes. As much as he wanted it to rain earlier that day, he hated it now. The roof hovered over him, flapping about idily, smacking some more rain in his face. He probably would've been better off with no roof at all.

"You're coming down the second it stops raining," he muttered through clenched teeth. "You good for nothin'–"

"I would've thought I'm better company than a sheet of plastic."

Kate was standing in his doorway, peering in. He glanced in her direction, surprised to see her, but then turned his attention back to his good ol' buddy, Roof.

"What do you want?" He asked.

Kate didn't have to guess that he was in a pissed off mood. She knew him well enough to know that when he sounded this angry and apathetic, it was probably best to leave him alone. But she couldn't do that without knowing what he was so mad about. Especially if he was mas at her.

"It's been raining for a good 10 minutes now. Why didn't you come over?" She asked, cautiously.

"For what, some hanky panky?" he asked, mockingly, turning to face her. " Well, aren't you a horny little slut."

Kate was taken aback. What he said stung, but he felt it more than she did. He didn't want to call her that but he was mad at her and that was what he did best when he was mad.

Make things worse.

Argue.

Make her get angry.

Hurt her like she had hurt him.

Push her away.

But Kate was more confused at his comment than infuriated. "What the hell is your problem?" She asked, storming inside.

With a little less venom in his voice, Sawyer went on. "Look, hun, I'm in no mood for your whinin', tonight. So why don't you just go back to Jack. Continue what you two were doing up at the caves."

Suddenly it dawned on her that Sawyer had seen them kiss.

"Don't let me stand in your way," he added.

"You were spying on me," Kate said, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah!"

She should've expected he wasn't going to deny it. She wasn't so much upset that he spied, but that he misunderstood what he saw.

"You don't know what you saw, Sawyer."

"Are you gonna sit here and tell me that he didn't have his tongue wedged down your throat?"

"There was no tongue."

He grunted, bitterly.

"Look, he kissed me but it didn't mean anything." She felt silly explaining this to him, as if she had cheated on him. "Why do you even care?"

Sawyer remained silent. Why idid/i he care? He already knew the answer to that, and with the way Kate was looking at him, he suspected she did too. He looked away but could still feel her eyes on him.

"I idon't/i care," he lied, speaking in a low voice.

The silence between them was heavy and punctuated by the sound of rain all around them. Kate eyed him carefully, searching his downcast eyes as best he could. The rain dripped off the top of his head, rolling down his face. The streaks of liquid on his somber face gave the impression that he was crying, but she knew that was an illusion. Examining him now, she finally understood why he was so upset. He cared because he cared about her.

"Do you love me?" she asked, slowly.

Sawyer seemed to flinch when he heard her say that. "Go away." It was the only thing he could think to say.

"You do, don't you?" she concluded.

Sawyer inhaled deeply and stood up. She had gotten him riled up enough to move and this time, he was going to make her leave him alone for good. No one ever called his bluff.

"You know what I love?" he began, staring at her now. " I love seeing you kiss the biggest square on this damn island. I love seeing you run back to your knight in shining armor after all he's done to you. And I love knowing you two will be blissfully happy up until he gets the idea that he wants to drop you again. Just don't expect me to pick up the pieces this time. Don't come crawling back to me for a shoulder to cry on as if we're best buddies. We're not buddies. We're not even friends." Sawyer sighed. That was harder to say than he expected. But he had to get it over with. Now all was left was to wish her happy trails. But she wouldn't budge.

"Do you I have to spell it out!" he yelled.

"We were never friends," Kate responded, evenly. She stepped closer to him, her eyes not leaving his. "We'll never be friends." She placed both her hands on either side of his waist and waited for him to take the opportunity she was presenting him with. He was going to let it slip this time. Sawyer slowly grabbed hold of her jaw and fished for the kiss he had been waiting far too long for. They stayed like that, in each other's embrace, forgetting about the rain.

The next morning, when everything was dry, Sawyer stalked through the jungle, on his way to where they were constructing the new 'hospital.' He saw a few people helping out, but only one who he really wanted to speak to. He walked over to Jack and stood in his way, a little too close for comfort. Jack simply looked at him questioningly, his eyebrows sewn together.

"Can I help you with anything?" he said.

Sawyer shrugged and responded with a fist to his jaw. The surprise and pain knocked Jack back a couple of steps. He touched his pained face and looked at Sawyer incredulously, but he had already begun walking away. "Hey!" he shouted. "What the hell was that for?"

Sawyer grinned, feeling fulfilled. He continued walking away. "For kissing me girl," he called back.

The End.


End file.
